Can It Get Any Better?
by DearestLizzie
Summary: Charlie and Bass are married and have to have a little talk. A teeny tiny bit of angst, otherwise SO fluffy. No mention of nannos, no conflicts. Just pure fluff:)


"You know I can't sleep when you do that."

Charlie smiled softly, her eyes raking over her husband's face in the soft half-light of night. The glow of the full moon streamed through their bedroom windows, drifting over his dark blond curls and catching his eyes just right so that they seemed to shine – a glorious cerulean – as he blinked himself fully awake and looked across at her.

"Sorry," she whispered, lifting a hand to rest it gently against his cheek, her fingers drifting lightly over his newly-grown stubble. "Can't help myself."

Bass tightened his arms around Charlie's waist and shifted so that she was lying on top of him, her head coming to rest oh-so-naturally in the crook of his neck. She shivered slightly as the cool night air drifted over her bare skin and Bass shifted to grab the blankets that had somehow ended up down around their knees. As he pulled them up over her shoulders, Charlie snuggled herself deeper into his embrace, a sign of contentment slipping from her lips as she reveled in her warm little cocoon.

"Why are you still awake?" Bass murmured as his lips moved caressingly against the soft skin of her temple.

"I –" Charlie paused and Bass thought he felt her tense slightly at his question. "I was just thinking," she finished lamely.

"I kinda figured that," Bass chuckled. "About anything in particular?"

Charlie pushed herself up just enough to look down into Bass' face and he felt a little frisson of alarm at her serious expression. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked as he slid a hand into her hair, his fingers gently massaging her scalp.

"We're happy, right?"

Bass blinked, honestly surprised at the question, and he studied Charlie's face carefully. "Yeah," he answered slowly. "At least I thought we were. Until about two seconds ago."

"No, no, no," Charlie hastened to assure him. "I didn't mean it like that. Of course I'm happy," she insisted, moving her hands to frame his face as she leaned down to press her lips to his. "I just . . . it was just a question."

"So it was more of an 'are you happy, Bass?' thing rather than 'I'm moving back in with my mother'?"

Charlie laughed and nodded as her thumbs smoothed over his cheeks. "Yeah, more like that."

"Charlotte, not only am I happy, I'm damn near ecstatic every day," Bass replied, grinning up at her. "The Patriots are gone, we're married, we have a home, and no one's trying to kill us. I'd say that's pretty much perfect."

Charlie's smile dimmed slightly at his last comment and her eyes dropped to follow the path of her fingers as they traced the ridge of his collarbone. "So . . . you don't want anything to change?"

"Baby, this is the life I never thought I'd have. And it's with you," he added tenderly, leaning up to gently caress her lips with his. "Why would I want anything to change?"

Nodding slightly, her smile looking somewhat forced, Charlie moved to push away from him. "Yeah," she said with false cheerfulness. "Me, too."

In spite of her best efforts to extricate herself from Bass' embrace, Bass tightened his arms around her and held her firmly to his chest. "Charlotte, what's going on?" he asked insistently. "There was a point to your question and I'd really like to know what it was."

"It was nothing," Charlie persisted, though she still wouldn't meet his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure that –"

"That I'm happy," Bass finished for her. "Yeah, I got that. But why is my saying that I am making you look like I just kicked a puppy?"

"Because things don't just stay the same!" Charlie exclaimed, a burst of sudden anger giving her the strength to pull away from a stunned Bass. Ignoring her own nakedness, she threw off the covers and rose from the bed to stand in front of their bay windows, the delicate sheer curtains preventing any late-night passers by from getting a rather surprising eyeful. Crossing her arms over her bare breasts, Charlie stared blindly out into the night. "They can't stay the way they are and I don't know how . . ." Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip, angry at her own lack of control. She heard the bedclothes rustling and the back of her neck tingled as she felt him move up behind her. Gentle hands gripped Charlie's shoulders and turned her until she was facing her husband's distractingly perfect chest, though even that failed to stir her as it usually did.

Bass tried to life her chin so he could look her in the eye but Charlie jerked away and stared over his shoulder, her eyes bright with unshed tears. Bass felt his heart leap painfully and he felt a serious pang of worry settle right into his stomach. "Why can't things stay the way they are?" he asked slowly. "If you're happy and I'm happy then –"

"Because it's not just us anymore," Charlie whispered as finally looked up at him, her eyes begging him to understand.

The few seconds it took for her meaning to register were the longest of Charlie's life. When she finally saw it hit him, when she saw Bass' eyes grow wide and his skin go pale, she braced herself for what he was going to say.

"Charlotte," he rasped. "Are you telling me that . . . that you're . . ." Bass couldn't even get the words out.

"I'm pregnant, Bass."

Knowing how deeply Bass had been scarred by Shelley's and their baby's deaths, Charlie braced herself for fear, anger, shock, pretty much every emotion but what she got. After a long moment, Bass slowly stepped towards her, knelt, and, so tenderly that Charlie couldn't stop her tears, wrapped his arms around her waist as he pressed his lips against her abdomen. Weeping, caught in the grips of such profound relief, all Charlie could do was gently comb her fingers through his hair.

"My God, Charlotte," Bass finally whispered, his voice rough with emotion as his lips moved against the soft skin of her belly. "A baby." He looked up at her and Charlie's throat tightened painfully when she saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. Bass rose to stand before her, his arms tightening to draw her close. "Are you sure?"

Charlie nodded, struggling to contain her emotions. "I went to see Grandpa about something else and he suspected. He examined me to be sure," she told him, grimacing slightly. "_That_ was pretty weird, I have to say."

Bass managed to laugh, a slight breath of sound. "Yeah, I'll bet." He reached up to gently smooth Charlie's hair from her forehead while his eyes traced every feature, as though committing everything to memory. "You didn't think I'd be happy about it."

"I thought you'd be . . . upset," Charlie admitted. "After what happened before –"

"I'm not going to lie to you," he told her immediately. "I'm scared to death. And it's going to be hard for me not to hover or micromanage or do a lot of other things that might drive you crazy. But," he added seriously, "there wasn't a doctor to help with Shelley and I'm fairly sure that your grandfather is going to be keeping a pretty close eye on you. That helps." He lowered his head until his forehead was resting on hers. "It also helps that nothing in this world could be better or make me happier than having a baby with you."

Charlie felt her eyes well up again and blinked rapidly to clear them. Damn hormones! "Really?" she asked, a tremulous smile on her lips.

"Really," Bass replied as he grinned down at her. Charlie leaned into him, pressing her face into the hollow of his throat, and sighed contentedly.

They lost track of how long they stood there, their dark silhouettes outlined against the windows by the silver light of the full moon. When Bass felt Charlie start to sag against him, her exhaustion taking over, he gently slipped an arm behind her knees and picked her up, carrying her back to bed.

"Icnwalk," Charlie slurred sleepily against his neck as Bass crossed the room.

"I know you can," Bass chuckled, lowering her to the mattress. "Indulge me, OK?" Charlie murmured gratefully as she settled back into her pillow and she immediately gravitated towards Bass' warmth when he joined her under the covers.

Bass began a gentle exploration of her body, searching for any signs of pregnancy that he might have missed. Fingers drifted over a belly that might be – just might be – slightly rounded. He cupped and caressed breasts that were definitely fuller, that didn't fit quiet so perfectly into his hands. Charlie sighed and pressed closer, her eyes still closed, as one of her legs slid between his. "When?" Bass whispered as he bent to press his lips to hers.

"When what?" Charlie asked as she began a little exploration of her own, her fatigue having mysteriously disappeared.

"What do you mean 'when what'?" he asked playfully. "When is the baby due?"

"Six months."

"Are you serious?" Bass exclaimed as he pulled back to look down at his wife, incredulity in every feature. "You're three months pregnant? But you haven't been sick. And, my God, Charlotte, you haven't missed a period! Are you sure you're both alright?"

Charlie smiled up at him and softly caressed his cheek. "We're fine," she assured him. "In fact, Grandpa said that I'm almost indecently healthy. No morning sickness. And they weren't periods. Remember how light they were? That's actually one of the things that made me go see Grandpa. My periods are always so heavy. Apparently some spotting in the first few months is totally normal."

"I'm going to talk to Gene tomorrow," Bass informed her. "I want to know what to look for, what your diet should be, how much exercise you should be getting –"

"You know what else they say is totally normal?" Charlie interrupted, an impish smile on her face as she brought one of her legs up and moved to straddle his hips. She lowered herself until her breasts were pressed against his chest, her lips hovering just above his. "An increased sex drive."

"Oh, yeah?" Bass murmured, his hands stroking up her flanks to grip her hips as he pressed himself up against her.

"Mmmmmm," Charlie sighed as she bent to press her lips to his neck, her teeth scraping against the cords in his throat. "Absolutely. _Very_ increased."

Bass felt his chest tighten and all of a sudden he couldn't believe how lucky he was, how incredibly lucky, that the woman he adored was having his child. "God, Charlotte, I love you so much," Bass whispered urgently, his arms like steel bands around her.

Charlie pulled back just enough to press her lips against his; the kiss was a gentle exploration, an assurance, a benediction. "I love you, too, Bass," she murmured when the kiss ended. "And it's only going to get better."

**AN: This is just a little oneshot that was dying to get out. Don't worry, I'm still working on "All I Have Left" but the muse just would NOT leave me alone until I published this. I absolutely love the idea of a Charloe pregnancy. Anyway, I hope you like it. As always, reviews are most welcome! I'd love to hear what you think of it!**


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